A fiery, popular premier orders that the Canadian flag be removed from all provincial government buildings, fuelling separatist fervour at home and angering patriots in the rest of the country. Sound like the start of another emotionally-charged round in the campaign for Quebec independence? It's not.

The Newfoundland and Labrador premier, Danny Williams, ordered the Maple Leaf be taken down across his province two days before Christmas. Mr Williams had stormed out of talks with the federal government over details of a plan that would allow his government to keep all its offshore oil royalties, instead of seeing most of the money stay in federal government coffers, as it currently does. During campaigning for the last election, the prime minister, Paul Martin, promised Newfoundlanders they could keep it all. Mr Williams is now accusing him of reneging.

The premier's tactics appear wildly popular in Canada's eastern-most province, the last to join the confederation in 1949. Newfoundland and its many small coastal communities were hit badly by the collapse of the cod fishery, and hopes for a prosperous future are now tied to offshore oil.

Many in the province already blame the federal government for mismanaging its valuable fishery by allowing foreign fishing vessels to ply Newfoundland waters.

There is angry talk of secession. Sportswear manufacturer Marie Routhier announced that not only would her company no longer make patriotic red-and-white bikinis, but that she was changing her last name to Johnson. She is the great-great granddaughter of Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier, who wrote the original French lyrics to the national anthem.

The home crowd is cheering, but Mr Williams' tactics have backfired if he was hoping to build support for his case in the rest of Canada. Indeed, they have ignited another ugly debate in a country that at times seemed united only by the sport of ice hockey and a strong sense of grievance. Other Canadians are far from sympathetic, if not openly hostile to what they see as Newfoundland's demands that it keep all of its offshore oil money, as well as continuing to receive money, known as "equalisation payments", from Ottawa to help pay for social programmes like healthcare. The money comes from taxpayers in wealthier provinces such as Ontario.

"And their flag protest isn't winning them much sympathy on this side of the Gulf of St Lawrence. In fact, the sensation on this side is of a deep and painful bite to the hand that feeds," Globe and Mail columnist Margaret Wente wrote last week. "Mr Williams reminds me of a deadbeat brother-in-law who's hit you up for money a few times too often. He's been sleeping on your couch for years, and now he's got the nerve to complain that it is too lumpy."

Her column prompted hundreds of emails and letters to the newspaper, many of them angry. The national newspaper allowed Mr Williams to reply in his own opinion piece, in which he called Ms Wente paternalistic, condescending, and said her comments demonstrate "why Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have to take such firm action to get the attention of the people of this country".

He certainly got the attention of fellow Canadians, who don't like his decision to lower the flags because he is not getting exactly what he wants. When negotiations broke off, it appeared the premier was furious over a proposed agreement that would in fact give his province 100% of the oil royalties for up to 16 years. The disagreement appears to be about how equalisation payments will wind down if the oil revenues put Newfoundland on a similar financial footing to the richer provinces. These kinds of talks are often murky, and the details difficult to understand. Mr Williams argues that the deal isn't what the prime minister promised. But it is hard for Canadians outside of Newfoundland to understand how this could generate the kind of anger that would drive a premier to lower the Maple Leaf.